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I had an "empty" 30 lb jug of R22 sitting in the shop, which was at a nice 80ºF when I opened up this AM. Its pressure was at 78 psig, so I "adjusted" it to 75 psig, set it on a scale and hooked up for recovery.

How much contents variation is there and what about tare weight variation?

No, I don't believe I have. I'm usually more interested on the weight difference when either charging or recovering, so the weight of the tank itself...ie, the Tare Weight, doesn't ever enter the picture.

I have checked new tanks which appeared a little on the light side and found a couple of leakers that way. An R22 30 lb non-refillable Worthington tank weighs a bit over 5 lbs empty (at atmosheric pressure) and the box accounts about 1 lb, so if a new one (in the box) weighs less than 36 lbs, you're short.

I would think it would depend on the ambient temp and the tank temp at the time you get down. If your able to get the tank warm enough you can get most of it out. Its a good idea to recover it into a virgin tank so you can use it for another job. But it is below the allowable for the EPA that your able to just open the valve and let it disipate. That last time i really did a large enough system for one bottle I was able to get it down to 8oz. before I had to change bottles. Up to you on what you think is right.

How volatile is R22 pricing these days? While wholesale price is going up, it was well anticipated when we knew of the ban schedule, so the demand might be reduced for the time being due to stockpiling by end users.

Test result on R12
I had near empty jug of 30 lb size R12 sitting around that I wasn't quite sure what to do with. I weighed the cylinder, took it to an auto repair shop and had them recover it into their machine, which pulls it down to almost 30" of vac.

Test result on R12
I had near empty jug of 30 lb size R12 sitting around that I wasn't quite sure what to do with. I weighed the cylinder, took it to an auto repair shop and had them recover it into their machine, which pulls it down to almost 30" of vac.

In resi work; most times a jug of 22 gets tossed when it no longer has enough pressure in it to push gas into a resi AC (or HP) system. This may well be as high as 60 or 70 PSI gauge... a lot more than atmosphere.

I think I will keep the 'empty' (that is, not enough pressure to draw from) jugs all season. Then as TB noted; in the winter recover it all into a re-usable cylinder.

Yes, I shudder when I see R-22 jugs being tossed at 60 to 70 psi but I am a bit of a cheapskate. I save them and recover them later.

How volatile is R22 pricing these days? While wholesale price is going up, it was well anticipated when we knew of the ban schedule, so the demand might be reduced for the time being due to stockpiling by end users.

I think the EPA is a little upset, that the manufacturers found a loophole with the whole DRY CHARGED R-22 equipment.

The EPA regulates the allowable amount of R-22 that can be manufactured in a year and its production is set to cease in 2030. In 2020, however, production will be reduced to a trickle.... 00.50% (if i remember correctly) of 2010 R22 production numbers. I also believe that by 2015, production will be reduced to 10% of 2010 production numbers.

As a result of the DRY CHARGED loophole, the EPA is moving up its R-22 production draw down and that was a big reason for the jump in R-22 price at the beginning of this year. The EPA decided that it would significantly cut the amount of R-22 that could be produced, to combat the loophole.